For me, ruptured my right proximal bicep head tendon (during a hang clean wod) last month, got an MRI to check the shoulder per order of an Orth surgeon and got diagnosed with a partial supraspinatus rotator cuff tear.

From the MRI report....."There is a large partial tear of the
supraspinatus at its footplate measuring approximately 10 mm in
mediolateral and 9 mm in anterior-posterior dimension. The proximal
tendon is enlarged with increased edema which may represent tendinosis
or partial interstitial tear. There is partial articular surface tear
of the infraspinatus tendon anteriorly. The subscapularis tendon is
intact......."

before the injury, my right shoulder/bicep was sore - on and off - for a few years. probably due to some bicep tendon impingement. since the injury, there is actually no pain...common the docs say for proximal bicep tendon ruptures because when ruptured, it takes away the pressure/pain in the area, etc....like john elway experienced.

since, I actually have less/no pain, pretty good gange of motion and have "unremarkable results" when I went to get checked out/tested by a PT on both shoulders for a pre-surgery assessment.

Been to 6 different ortho surgeons, most are sports medicine specialists. Opinions varied from a) get surgery as soon as you can put time aside....to repair because it can/will only get worse in the future..and there may be a risk of not being able to repair it.........b) don't get surgery now...parital is partial, so since it does not cause you pain and you seem "Strong" when examined, keep working out, see how if feels....and you can always get surgery in the future

since, I have still been working out but with mods such as dropping oly barbell movements like cleans, snatch, oh work. all the while, trying to decide....when to go for surgery and with which surgeon.

although I am still able to workout with a modified strategy, I do feel that getting the rotator cuff tear taken care of near term...vs waiting to see how it goes.....is something I want to do.

if you have been thru something similar......would be great to hear any stories or experiences you can share. thanks in advance!

Hey Art.
If you have an injury, getting back to 100% is hard.
My personal opinion is this, if you can fix it before it gets worse, then fix it.
I had shoulder issues, rotator cuff and slap, and the first doctor i went to
said to get surgery. He didn't recommend, he said you need it for the stretched out ligaments in the rotator cuff and the minor slap lesion.
At first diagnosis, you tend to be a bit down.
I went to a second doctor and asked and he said, get a third opinion because he didn't think surgery was necessary.
I went to a third doctor and he said he would recommend the slap but if i don't get it, it will just be a slight discomfort in my life. As for the rotator cuff, he said once the slap is fixed, i can work on strengthening the rotator cuff.

So for now, Im going to try and recover without surgery. Doing this thing called the Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) and also getting PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) shots.

Im sorry I don't have a recovery story but maybe something to look into if you havn't heard about ESWT and PRP.

Hopefully, you can stay positive and look forward to the day when you can train at a 100% again. Good luck!~

For me, ruptured my right proximal bicep head tendon (during a hang clean wod) last month, got an MRI to check the shoulder per order of an Orth surgeon and got diagnosed with a partial supraspinatus rotator cuff tear.

From the MRI report....."There is a large partial tear of the
supraspinatus at its footplate measuring approximately 10 mm in
mediolateral and 9 mm in anterior-posterior dimension. The proximal
tendon is enlarged with increased edema which may represent tendinosis
or partial interstitial tear. There is partial articular surface tear
of the infraspinatus tendon anteriorly. The subscapularis tendon is
intact......."

before the injury, my right shoulder/bicep was sore - on and off - for a few years. probably due to some bicep tendon impingement. since the injury, there is actually no pain...common the docs say for proximal bicep tendon ruptures because when ruptured, it takes away the pressure/pain in the area, etc....like john elway experienced.

since, I actually have less/no pain, pretty good gange of motion and have "unremarkable results" when I went to get checked out/tested by a PT on both shoulders for a pre-surgery assessment.

Been to 6 different ortho surgeons, most are sports medicine specialists. Opinions varied from a) get surgery as soon as you can put time aside....to repair because it can/will only get worse in the future..and there may be a risk of not being able to repair it.........b) don't get surgery now...parital is partial, so since it does not cause you pain and you seem "Strong" when examined, keep working out, see how if feels....and you can always get surgery in the future

since, I have still been working out but with mods such as dropping oly barbell movements like cleans, snatch, oh work. all the while, trying to decide....when to go for surgery and with which surgeon.

although I am still able to workout with a modified strategy, I do feel that getting the rotator cuff tear taken care of near term...vs waiting to see how it goes.....is something I want to do.

if you have been thru something similar......would be great to hear any stories or experiences you can share. thanks in advance!

Hey Art just got back from the Games, I would be happy to check it out. Sean

When I was 14 I played in my first water polo game. I got thrown by a possibly roided out sophomore, and it turns out I tore my rotator cuff and stretched out my synovial capsule. Of course the doctor said that I strained a muscle and I was back swimming again in 3 days. One year later, I started experiencing horrible pain during games and tournaments so I played through that season and went to a specialist. He showed me where I had fractured my growth plate and put me in a sling for 3 months. After that I was still experiencing pain in my shoulder. I was referred to my specialist's friend who was also an orthopedic surgeon and he literally diagnosed me in about 10 seconds. I got an MRI and we saw the tear in my supraspinatus. I went into surgery 2 weeks later and learned that for over a year that the head of my humerus had been hanging 3 inches out of the joint. He repaired my rotator cuff and put permanent sutures in my capsule to fix the damage from the stretch. I spent 6 months in therapy, because I was hypermobile the therapist wanted to match my left shoulder's 110 degree rotation. So he took my right shoulder's 76 degree rotation and painstakingly stretched it to match my left. I was back in the pool again swimming breaststroke after 8 months...

I got really good at swimming laps underwater. Mostly from 8 years of competitive swimming and boredom. Anyways, after 2 months of breaststroking, I was back competing again. I'm 22 years old now and I still surf and swim. I was a performing capoeirista, look up capoeira, for 4 years right out of high school competed on the college swim team. I took up conventional weight lifting then moved onto crossfit. Now I'm on an olmypic lifting team.

I had a few flubs over the years, I did go through about 3 rounds of therapy because I developed some instability issues from muscle imbalances but I would only need about 3 weeks of therapy. I did develop an impingement in my left AC joint and had a mumford procedure 2 years ago, I experience a lot of imbalance on my left side, but the right is still going strong.

Despite some simply injuries I would consider my right shoulder arthroscopy a complete success.

Encouraging rotator cuff tear surgery recovery, of course there are. My left shoulder in 2006 and my right shoulder in 2010. My opinion is, if you can repair it, get it repaired, it will not get better on its own which = no Crossfit. Recovery has its ups and downs, both physically and mentally. Have patience and dedication during recovery/rehab and in time you will be okay
Good Luck

Post op and recovery:
Goal: do the best I can, maintian what I have as long as possible, listen to dr's instructions and focus on nutrition
Training:
- Follow rx/s rehab and recovery
Nutrition
- shift to 95% paleo and whole foods, fish oil, etc
- stay around cal maint level while keeping adequate daily protein
Mental: focus on rest, recovery, work, etc...without going crayy from not being able to workout for a while.....get ready for a come back when given the green light and take it slow and smart

I am 56 and just had RTC surgery on my left shoulder 9 weeks ago. I had been CF for about a year before the surgery. Not sure how I tore it (partial tear) but I think it was doing overhead squats as my shoulders and back were not flexible enough to handle that movement very well and I ended up pushing too hard I think. I had pain in the shoulder doing anything overhead and a lot when sleeping. I also had some bone spurs removed during the surgery. Just saw the doc yesterday and he said I was 2 months ahead of most men my age at this point. I have about 85-90% ROM now. I have just started doing push ups on the ground, restricted pull ups and assisted dips. I can do 35 lb kb swings. No burpies, on catching wall ball, I have difficulty doing back squats as I cant really get my left hand onto the bar yet. Obvioulsy no clean and jerks, push press or overhead squats yet. I have also done some light (45 lb) shoulder press recently. I have been able to do some light cleans also (up to 85 lbs). Doc said in 6 weeks, he will probably clear me to do any CF movement I want to, but I will obviously start slow. Before surgery my max shoulder press was 135 and max clean and jerk was 175. I could do about 25 pull ups unbroken and maybe 50 push ups. Doing these movements again feels like I am just starting CF all over again so that is kind of discouraging but I am just going to keep plugging away and I know I'll be back to where I was in no time, 5-6 month hopefully. Any way, I am glad I went ahead and had the surgery. So far, it seems to have been the right move for me.